ASUS Maximus Formula SE: X38 and DDR2 Unite!
by Rajinder Gill on November 9, 2007 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Test Setup and Overclocking Results
We decided to use our base QX6800 CPU with our standard tests run on the 9x multiplier to simulate the attractively priced Q6600 CPU and to match previous benchmark results. In this section of testing, we aim to remain within realistic cooling capacity temperatures and current CPU stepping capabilities. This better shows an overall picture of motherboard performance potential, using widely available parts. Once again, Micron D9GKX based memory modules do not show outstanding results, requiring high voltages for stability on both our P35 and X38 based boards. We decided to stick with our D9GMH based OCZ Flex 9200 modules, as they seem to perform well on current P35 and X38 motherboards.
With such a vast array of overclocking BIOS functions at our disposal, a decision was made to stick with a single operating system environment. Microsoft XP SP2 was chosen due to its maturity, taking away some of the time burden looking for possible software level conflicts that may exist on a newer OS (though we ventured to run our standard Vista test suite for the non-overclocking benchmarks). This does not mean the board cannot work with Vista at present when overclocking; we are just trying to eliminate possible downtime on non motherboard/BIOS related issues. There's also the fact that a vast majority of overclocking enthusiasts have not switched to Vista (yet).
High and medium resolution 1920x1200, 1600x1200, and 1280x1024 game benchmark tests were run in order to cross-compare CPU MHz related gains in our board specific tests. We utilize new drive images on each board in order to minimize any potential driver conflicts. Our 3DMark results are generated utilizing the standard benchmark resolution for each program. We run each benchmark five times, throw out the two low and high scores, and report the remaining score to reflect a repeatable average.
Our cooling preference for pushing past 3.6 GHz with a quad-core CPU for 24/7 use is to move to water-cooling. The following water-cooling components are used in addition to our basic test components when overclocking:
Swiftech Apogee GTX CPU water block
2x Petra Top Laing DDC Ultra water pumps in series
Swiftech Micro-Res
Thermochill PA120.3 Radiator, with 3x Panaflo 120mm fans
Danger Den 1/2" ID Tubing
We limited our standard Vista test suite to a few benchmark results to indicate the general performance of this board when compared to current P35 motherboards. Since ASUS Maximus Formula was designed for the overclocker and gamer in mind, not your typical YouTube viewer, we decided to take a different look at this board and focus on overclocking for this particular article with results compared to the DFI P35 motherboard. We will expand our benchmark results to include direct comparisons to other X38 motherboards in a future roundup.
| ASUS Maximus Formula Standard Testbed |
|
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (QX6800 at 9x multiplier and OC Test) Quad Core, 2.4GHz, 8MB Unified Cache, 9x Multiplier, 1066FSB |
| CPU Voltage | 1.2500V |
| Cooling | Tuniq Tower 120 |
| Power Supply | OCZ Pro Xstream 1000W |
| Memory | OCZ Flex PC2-9200 (4x1GB) |
| Memory Settings | 4-4-4-12 (DDR2-1066) |
| Video Cards | MSI HD 2900XT for P35 comparison, MSI 8800 Ultra for OC Tests |
| Video Drivers | AMD 7.10, NVIDIA 163.75 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital 7200RPM 750GB SATA 3/Gbps 16MB Buffer |
| Optical Drives | Plextor PX-755A |
| Case | CoolerMaster Stacker 830 Evo |
| BIOS | ASUS 0505 |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| . | |
We decided to use our base QX6800 CPU with our standard tests run on the 9x multiplier to simulate the attractively priced Q6600 CPU and to match previous benchmark results. In this section of testing, we aim to remain within realistic cooling capacity temperatures and current CPU stepping capabilities. This better shows an overall picture of motherboard performance potential, using widely available parts. Once again, Micron D9GKX based memory modules do not show outstanding results, requiring high voltages for stability on both our P35 and X38 based boards. We decided to stick with our D9GMH based OCZ Flex 9200 modules, as they seem to perform well on current P35 and X38 motherboards.
With such a vast array of overclocking BIOS functions at our disposal, a decision was made to stick with a single operating system environment. Microsoft XP SP2 was chosen due to its maturity, taking away some of the time burden looking for possible software level conflicts that may exist on a newer OS (though we ventured to run our standard Vista test suite for the non-overclocking benchmarks). This does not mean the board cannot work with Vista at present when overclocking; we are just trying to eliminate possible downtime on non motherboard/BIOS related issues. There's also the fact that a vast majority of overclocking enthusiasts have not switched to Vista (yet).
High and medium resolution 1920x1200, 1600x1200, and 1280x1024 game benchmark tests were run in order to cross-compare CPU MHz related gains in our board specific tests. We utilize new drive images on each board in order to minimize any potential driver conflicts. Our 3DMark results are generated utilizing the standard benchmark resolution for each program. We run each benchmark five times, throw out the two low and high scores, and report the remaining score to reflect a repeatable average.
Our cooling preference for pushing past 3.6 GHz with a quad-core CPU for 24/7 use is to move to water-cooling. The following water-cooling components are used in addition to our basic test components when overclocking:
Swiftech Apogee GTX CPU water block
2x Petra Top Laing DDC Ultra water pumps in series
Swiftech Micro-Res
Thermochill PA120.3 Radiator, with 3x Panaflo 120mm fans
Danger Den 1/2" ID Tubing
We limited our standard Vista test suite to a few benchmark results to indicate the general performance of this board when compared to current P35 motherboards. Since ASUS Maximus Formula was designed for the overclocker and gamer in mind, not your typical YouTube viewer, we decided to take a different look at this board and focus on overclocking for this particular article with results compared to the DFI P35 motherboard. We will expand our benchmark results to include direct comparisons to other X38 motherboards in a future roundup.
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jozeaphe - Sunday, February 17, 2008 - link
Hi Guys i Just Build a new PC :Asus Maximus Formula SE .
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 .
2 GB Ram - 800 MHz ( for the moment ) .
can any one help to overclock my PC to Max settings within the following :
1. Stock Intel CPU heatsink\fan ( come with processor ) . No water cooling on the northbridge .
2. Stock Intel CPU heatsink\fan ( come with processor ) . With water cooling on the northbridge .
3. The above 2 options but using 2 GB Ram - 1066 ( if thats make a difference ) .
And Thank u All , Jozeaphe@gmail.com .
guitronics - Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - link
I don't know if I have an 'SE',but I have the game Stalker.These Mobo's are NHRA Top Fueler's, not 18 wheeler's. They're Gaming 'Boards,not workstations,or servers.Their cause is overclocking/tweaking. So:Some legacy stuff hadda go...serial and parallel:Buy a PCI card,if you really need it.There are plenty of pci slots.No Esata? There are 6 Sata,and 1 IDE port.2 -GB Lan options.Yes,it does ECC:But why does a gamer want that?There are 1394a ports,not 800 Mhz.Or,at least that speed isn't documented.The USB mouse...it's time to get on the "dump legacy stuff" wagon.How big a deal is that?Up to 8 GB of memory,and onboard 0,1,5;and 10 Raid support.Put a Blu-Ray on the IDE,run raptors' in raid 0, still have room for > 4 < More drives....Terabyte's, anyone?A good case and you can swap 'em out...no big deal."It's a Gaming Machine"!
jay401 - Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - link
I think we've officially reached the point of option saturation, where there are literally TOO many options in the BIOS for most overclockers to ever care about. Sure, it's great for the handful that will actually make use of all of those options, but we're getting dangerously close to the point where it is TMI.RFV - Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - link
you'd love the DFI BIOS!RFV - Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - link
I have read that the Asus Maximus Formula SE is now "End Of Line" so you better hurry if you want to purchase one. Asus did the same thing with the Blitz Formula SE, so this is not suprising news, the Maximus Formula SE was always going to be a limited edition board from the get go. Also, fom the reviews I have read on this board from people who upgraded from P35 boards is that the Maximus Formula SE X38 board required more volts than the Asus P5K Deluxe board to reach the same overclock. They also reported that the X38 boards generally ran hotter than the P35 boards at the same overclock.457R4LDR34DKN07 - Monday, November 12, 2007 - link
Thanks for the in depth bios descriptions, it has helped me dramatically increase stability while using patriot pc8500 memory.Etern205 - Saturday, November 10, 2007 - link
What happened to the Maximus Extreme?Raja Gill - Sunday, November 11, 2007 - link
that's nextzoom314 - Saturday, November 10, 2007 - link
I wonder does Asus still have Locked Multipliers on Extreme cpus still like they do on the P5W DH Deluxe? Meaning any multiplier above the Default Multiplier is locked off to prevent users from overclocking, rendering an Extreme Dual/Quad cpu an Expensive Normal Dual Core or Quad Core cpu(A QX6700 becomes a Q6700 cpu). Of course one can adjust the Multiplier downwards to 6 as Asus say No one needs those upper Multipliers and Hence Asus does Not Support Extreme any cpu!!!!Raja Gill - Saturday, November 10, 2007 - link
the upwards multipliers work fine on this board...